


catastrophe and the cure

by orphan_account



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Fluff, M/M, not tagging this biz as finn-est bc thats yucky, wholesome finnfern content only
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 12:39:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17426084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: One mistake is all that it can takeLook at how I’m scratching at the surfaceWhen you found my body by the lakeYou wasn’t sure if I was still aliveYou picked me up and took me homeYou scrubbed away the bloodstain on the carpetI am petrified of changingYou can’t tell a loser how to win a battle





	catastrophe and the cure

**Author's Note:**

> sooo ao3 is extremely lacking on fern content and also finn/fern content so ive taken the honor of going ahead and writing some. i dont really dabble in fanfic but i had my bud edit it as i was writing so shout out to that guy. i hope i did the characters justice. this fic was actually inspired by the first two verses of the song Factories (yes those verses in the summary) by Autoheart and the title comes from a song name by Explosions in the Sky, two bands i really, really love! anyhow i hope yall enjoy

The night is cool and the breeze is gentle. There is only the sound of blades of grass swaying in the wind, and their parting as a figure makes its way through. The figure emerges from beneath shadows cast by trees and the moonlight reveals the face of Fern.

Slowly, deliberately, Fern crosses the small stream and makes his way up the hill before him, setting his eyes on a familiar maze. He approaches and slowly places his palm on the maze wall. There are no entrances, but the grass wall gives way allowing Fern passage inside. He steps forward, unsheathing his sword.

His arrival has alerted the grass beasts which guard the maze;the walls reverberate almost silently, but not silently enough to elude Fern's keen senses. He's alert, ready. Quietly making his way through, he is prepared to face whatever gets in his way.

Without warning, a beast emerges from the maze wall, rearing back on four of its six legs to let loose a screech from its ugly head. Fern wastes no time dashing forward  to sever two of its grass legs. He successfully slices one while narrowly avoiding being crushed. Leaping out of the way, he lands on all fours and swiftly rights himself as the monster eyes him, seeing if he will make another move. He uses the monster's caution against it, feigning strikes in an attempt to catch it in a bad position. His efforts pay off when the beast raises the upper half of its body to bring its front legs crashing down on Fern.

Fern is faster as he bursts forward and slides under the beast, gliding his sword along its underbelly. He emerges from the other side unscathed and the monster falls to the ground, perfectly split in two. He is kneeling on the ground catching his breath when suddenly the wind is knocked out of him, and he is hurtling towards the maze wall. With an oddly hard smack, Fern hits the wall and falls to his knees. The grass beast, now reconnected, charges. Before it can crush him against the wall, Fern mutates his arms into thick, prickly vines which then rapidly extend and wrap around the monster. "Okay, NOW I'm mad," Fern says. He tightens the vines around the monster tighter and tighter until... _POMF_. Grass blades explode into the air and then gently fall to the ground.

Fern, breathing heavily, lets his arms mutate back to their original form. Though he is stronger than Finn with his ability to transform his grass body, changing shape quickly—and especially when he is already strained—is an exhausting task.

"Can't stop now," Fern mutters to himself as he gets to his feet. He begins to make his way through the maze, dragging the blade of his sword along the walls to keep track of where he has already been. Even with this strategy, Fern finds himself continuing to walk in circles. Frustrated, he stops in an attempt to get his bearings. "No use...,” he sighs. Suddenly, an idea forms in his mind.

Approaching the wall, Fern stretches his arms to the top and grabs hold. After a few moments, he manages to scramble his way to the top. Sitting with both legs on either side of the wall, he scans the scene. Straight ahead Fern can see the exit he is looking for, but as he is about to descend from the top of the hedge, something roars in the distance. Fern turns to the sound to see another grass beast materializing from the wall of the maze. A reptilian head emerges followed by wings which quickly outstretch and carry the beast upward. It seems suspended in the air for a moment before resting its gaze upon Fern and propelling itself forward with incredible speed.

"OH shi-," Fern doesn't even finish before throwing himself off the wall, just barely dodging the beast's assault. He rolls a couple times before finally coming to a stop and sits up on his knees. The monster is preoccupied for a moment as it rights itself from its devastating impact and Fern is able to get a better look.

Its body is long and lizard-like, and it moves on six legs like the last beast. Unfortunately, Fern can tell the size of this one is much greater, its wings only adding to its height. The monster slowly turns its head and Fern knows he will be in for quite the brawl.

_I need to finish this quickly,_ Fern thinks to himself. Wasting no time, he stretches out his left arm into a large thorny fist and strikes his opponent right in its snout. The monster rears back in pain but swiftly recovers and lunges forward. Fern increases the size of his right arm to match his left and meets the monster in its forward dash, attempting to grapple with the beast. Grunting with effort, Fern tries to tear the grassy beast’s head from its neck.

Out of the corner of his eye Fern can see something quickly swinging up towards him, but he isn’t quick enough to dodge and it sends him flying into the wall of the maze. The monster had used its long tail to smack him while he was too busy wrestling with its front. Fern hisses and grits his teeth, but before he can stand back up the beast is charging again. It grabs Fern in its claws and lifts into the air. He’s struggling against the monster’s grip as it continues to climb up into the sky when suddenly it’s diving.

Fern is panicking. From this height there’s a good chance the impact will scatter him into about one million little blades of grass and he isn’t keen on dying just yet. If he could just soften the landing…

Fern roars and mutates his grass body, sending thorns from every inch of its surface. The monster screeches in pain and momentarily loosens its grip. In that moment Fern stretches his arms upward, latching onto the back of the beast. With every last bit of his strength he turns his arms to vines, wrapping them around the wings of the monster. Without the use of its wing it can no longer control its own fall, allowing Fern to position its body as a landing cushion. Or, at least that’s the wild idea Fern had when frantically trying to come up with ways not to die.The beast’s legs flail uselessly as the two plummet toward the ground.

His plan miraculously works. The monster hits the ground first absorbing most of the impact but Fern is still thrown from the brunt of the landing. He rolls for a couple of seconds before coming to a stop on his stomach. He groans and looks up feebly. The dragon-like monster which nearly killed him only moments before looks more like a pile of freshly mowed grass now.

Just moving his head is exhausting. A fleeting thought of dying alone outside the Grass Wizard’s maze flashes through Fern’s mind. _There’s NO way I’m croaking here of all places,_ he thinks angrily. Somehow clambering to his feet, Fern stumbles in the direction of the forest he came from. But, before he can even finish crossing the stream in front of it he collapses. Fern’s last thoughts before losing consciousness are of Finn and the treehouse.

 

* * *

 

Finn checks the clock and sighs. Another late night where Fern has yet to come back home. “I wonder if he even thinks of the treehouse as home,” he quietly mumbles to himself.

“What’s that bud?” Jake asks. He’s sitting on the couch deep into a book.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Finn replies. “Hey man I’m gonna head out for a bit, check if Fern’s around.”

“I’m sure he’s doin’ just fine.”

“I know,” Finn mutters as he climbs down the ladder. “Be back soon,” he shouts and heads out the front door.

Once outside, Finn surveys the scene. He has the slightest suspicion that Fern is in the vicinity of the Grass Wizard’s home. It wouldn’t be the first time Fern has run amok there. Finn starts off in the direction of the maze.

More than once, Finn has found Fern passed out near the wizard’s maze and every time Finn carries him back home. Each time he helps Fern recover it seems that he has no recollection of heading there with the intent of fighting the Grass Wizard. Finn always lies, telling Fern he was simply knocked unconscious by some monster on another one of their dungeon crawls. Though it might be a blow to Fern’s ego, Finn worries that if he tells Fern the truth he would feel even worse.

He’s managed to keep the occurrences secret from Jake, but why he does so is unknown even to himself. He wonders if it’s because he doesn’t want to embarrass Fern, or if he fears Jake will get on Fern’s case about it. That’s the last thing Finn wants; for Jake to scold Fern. His grass counterpart is much more volatile than himself, and who knows what kind of trouble Fern might get into if he were to fly off the handle.

Finn lingers on the thought for a moment before shaking it from his mind. _I know Fern’s good… I should have more faith in him,_ he tells himself. He treads on.

Emerging from the forest which surrounds the Grass Wizard’s home, Finn spots a shape in the distance to his right. He starts walking, and as the shape becomes clearer, he’s suddenly running. Fern is lying face down in the grass, legs submerged, water lapping at his shorts. His usual green color has been replaced by a yellow hue and chunks of grass are missing all over his body.

Finn quickly drops to his knees beside him. “I gotcha buddy,” he says while gingerly taking Fern’s arms and placing them on either shoulder. With Fern’s stomach pressed against his back, Finn carries the two of them home.

 

* * *

 

Fern’s eyes open slowly and it takes him a moment to realize he’s back at the treehouse. He looks around, noting that he is currently lying on the couch under a blanket. Finn is asleep, head resting on his crossed arms near Fern’s feet. Looking to his right, Fern sees three glasses of water sitting on the table and what appear to be bags of stacked fertilizer on the other side of the room. He glances down at Finn. _Did he get all this stuff… for me?_ Fern wonders.

He stares at the ceiling for a moment trying to remember what happened before waking up in the treehouse. His mind draws a blank. Sighing, he sits up and reaches toward the glass of water on the table. He takes it and gulps it down. Already, he can feel his grass body feeling somewhat rejuvenated. His movements wake Finn who slowly lifts his head and rubs his tired eyes.

“Hey bud, how you feelin’?” he asks.

“Mmm… pretty weak,” Fern replies. “What happened to me?”

For a brief moment, Finn considers telling him the truth. He can’t bring himself to. Instead, he opts for the lie that he devised while Fern was asleep.

“A cyclops knocked you unconscious, dude. It was guarding some crazy loot stash we set out to find. I chopped its head clean off, though. Somehow, I managed to drag you back here too.” He pauses for a moment before quietly adding, “I was pretty worried about you.”

“Well… I’m okay,” Fern says. “Thanks for bringing me back home.”

Finn’s heart stutters for a moment upon hearing Fern call the treehouse home. “Yeah dude, of course. There’s no way I’d leave you out there.”

Fern brings his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around his legs. Silence settles between the two for a moment until he asks, “so… did you manage to grab the treasure?”

“Of course!” Finn replies. He smiles at Fern.

Fern opts for sheepishly looking away and staring at the water glass on the table in front of him.

“Hey,” Finn says while standing up and coming to sit beside Fern on the couch. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He rests a hand on Fern’s shoulder. Unbeknownst to Finn, this action causes Fern’s grass heart to beat erratically in his chest. “‘Cause if not you can always tell me. I even managed to bring home all these bags of fertilizer for you. I’m not sure if they’ll actually help but I uh… wanted to at least do something for you.”

Fern’s heart is thumping in his chest. He turns his head toward Finn to mumble his thanks. “I’m sure they’ll help… thanks Finn.” He pauses for a moment before turning away and adding, “It means a lot to me.”

Finn smiles at him, happy that for once Fern is being honest about how he feels. Before he can say anything though, Finn lets out a big yawn.

“You should go sleep,” Fern tells him. “I’m sure you’re tired after all this.”

“You’re not gonna go sleep on the roof are you?” Finn asks.

“Nah, I’ll stay right here.”

Finn is quiet for a bit, enjoying just sitting beside Fern. He then gets up and stretches while replying, “Okay, bud. Don’t be afraid to wake me if you need anything, alright?”

“Will do.”

“Goodnight, Fern,” Finn says before climbing up the ladder.

“Night, Finn.” Fern crawls under his blanket on the couch and falls asleep. He dreams of following Finn up and the ladder and snuggling into bed beside him.


End file.
